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Pages: 1 | 2 | (show all) lawrie Carpal Tunnel Reged: 01/31/06 Loc: Okanagan Valley Starlight Xpress SXVR-H18       #5706826 - 03/01/13 09:28 AM Edit   Reply   Quote Quick Reply   Hi, Just wondering what is the general opinion about this camera. http://www.optcorp.com/product.aspx?pid=1542-15881 I notice it never seems to come up when there is a thread about which camera to buy. Thanks Lawrie Post Extras:       fetoma Carpal Tunnel Reged: 09/26/06 Loc: Southern New Jersey Re: Starlight Xpress SXVR-H18 [Re: lawrie]       #5707107 - 03/01/13 12:44 PM Edit   Reply   Quote Quick Reply   I think it's because most folks are using the SBIG, QSI, or QHY version of the camera with the 8300 chip. My opinion is that it is overpriced, but generally the SX cameras are good having owned a few myself. Post Extras:       harry page 1 super member Reged: 07/25/09 Re: Starlight Xpress SXVR-H18 [Re: fetoma]       #5707211 - 03/01/13 01:39 PM Edit   Reply   Quote Quick Reply   Hi You might struggle to get one and I agree there are better chips about http://www.sxccd.com/sxvr-h18 Harry Post Extras:       wolfman_4_ever Pooh-Bah Reged: 07/15/11 Loc: El Segundo, Ca, So. Cal Re: Starlight Xpress SXVR-H18 [Re: harry page 1]       #5707496 - 03/01/13 05:04 PM Edit   Reply   Quote Quick Reply   There being discontinued in favor of the H694 "The H18 is being discontinued. We believe that the low noise and excellent sensitivity of the Sony based H694 and its derivatives, have made the KAF8300 chip much less attractive. Because of this, we are no longer accepting orders for the H18." Post Extras:       Alph Pooh-Bah Reged: 11/23/06 Loc: Melmac Re: Starlight Xpress SXVR-H18 [Re: wolfman_4_ever]       #5707659 - 03/01/13 07:21 PM Edit   Reply   Quote Quick Reply   Quote: "The H18 is being discontinued. We believe that the low noise and excellent sensitivity of the Sony based H694 and its derivatives, have made the KAF8300 chip much less attractive. Because of this, we are no longer accepting orders for the H18." It is really sad to see that SX is not able to compete with QSI, SBIG, FLI, Apogee Post Extras:       Tapio Pooh-Bah Reged: 09/24/06 Loc: Tampere, Finland Re: Starlight Xpress SXVR-H18 [Re: Alph]       #5707674 - 03/01/13 07:29 PM Edit   Reply   Quote Quick Reply   Starlight is pretty popular this side of pond (and have good reputation). And I think Starlight is so true of the reason why they discontinued H18. Post Extras:       wolfman_4_ever Pooh-Bah Reged: 07/15/11 Loc: El Segundo, Ca, So. Cal Re: Starlight Xpress SXVR-H18 [Re: Alph]       #5708020 - 03/02/13 12:29 AM Edit   Reply   Quote Quick Reply   Quote: Quote: "The H18 is being discontinued. We believe that the low noise and excellent sensitivity of the Sony based H694 and its derivatives, have made the KAF8300 chip much less attractive. Because of this, we are no longer accepting orders for the H18." It is really sad to see that SX is not able to compete with QSI, SBIG, FLI, Apogee Don't know about that... SX pretty much uses Sony exclusively. I had an 8300 based chip... bleh... Also heard TheSkyX will soon support SX products. Post Extras:       Tandum sage Reged: 03/01/10 Loc: Brisbane, Australia Re: Starlight Xpress SXVR-H18 [Re: wolfman_4_ever]       #5708364 - 03/02/13 09:04 AM Edit   Reply   Quote Quick Reply   The only guy I know who has one complains that the shutter sheds shavings of iron oxide into the ccd chamber. I think it's the only sx camera with a mechanical shutter too. Post Extras:       Alph Pooh-Bah Reged: 11/23/06 Loc: Melmac Re: Starlight Xpress SXVR-H18 [Re: Tandum]       #5708619 - 03/02/13 11:31 AM Edit   Reply   Quote Quick Reply   Quote: The only guy I know who has one complains that the shutter sheds shavings of iron oxide into the ccd chamber. I think it's the only sx camera with a mechanical shutter too. Also a light leakage was reported by some users. This is particular disappointing since I warned SX about shutters leaking light based on my experience with other camera and they still designed it incorrectly The SXVR cameras have another design flaw. In the absence of a breeze, the cooling system can't reach a set point. This problem was first reported by my buddy. SX developed a side fan to mitigate the problem. You would think that it should be included with every SXVR camera. I guess they decided to offer it as a separate accessory to avoid a blunt admission of the design flaw. Post Extras:       lawrie Carpal Tunnel Reged: 01/31/06 Loc: Okanagan Valley Re: Starlight Xpress SXVR-H18 [Re: Alph]       #5709368 - 03/02/13 06:55 PM Edit   Reply   Quote Quick Reply   Thanks guys, I think I'm going to get a QSI 683 wsg. What you hear about them? Post Extras:       fetoma Carpal Tunnel Reged: 09/26/06 Loc: Southern New Jersey Re: Starlight Xpress SXVR-H18 [Re: lawrie]       #5709545 - 03/02/13 08:54 PM Edit   Reply   Quote Quick Reply   Lawrie, You already have a 8300 chip camera, why do you want another rather than pulling the trigger on the Sony 694? Post Extras:       shams42 Pooh-Bah Reged: 01/05/09 Loc: Kingsport, TN Re: Starlight Xpress SXVR-H18 [Re: fetoma]       #5709619 - 03/02/13 09:46 PM Edit   Reply   Quote Quick Reply   The 683 is a great camera. Outstanding build quality, compact, and incredibly reliable. I love my 583. I believe several Starlight cameras have issues with CCD sensor orthogonality as well, at least based on what I've read here. Post Extras:       lawrie Carpal Tunnel Reged: 01/31/06 Loc: Okanagan Valley Re: Starlight Xpress SXVR-H18 [Re: shams42]       #5710653 - 03/03/13 01:20 PM Edit   Reply   Quote Quick Reply   Frank, I have a osc camera and want a mono to go along with it. I was thinking to keep my resolution the same with both cameras, then I could shoot Lum or narrow band with one and color with the other ( the last few years I am getting very few clear nights and this could save some time). The pixel size of the sony chip gets me well under-sampled with the equipment I use, I think the pixel size is 4.54,on the new camera(694) with the 8300 (5.4) I'm at 2 arc-sec/pixel which should be good sampling to my seeing. Shams Good to know, thanks Post Extras:       Tandum sage Reged: 03/01/10 Loc: Brisbane, Australia Re: Starlight Xpress SXVR-H18 [Re: lawrie]       #5712267 - 03/04/13 10:46 AM Edit   Reply   Quote Quick Reply   Just watch binning. The 8300 uses a normal pixel set as the read out buffer so you will be cramming 4 pixels into one to read it out. I'm supposing the 694 will do the same. That sort of rubbish equals zero star colour. Post Extras:       Alph Pooh-Bah Reged: 11/23/06 Loc: Melmac Re: Starlight Xpress SXVR-H18 [Re: Tandum]       #5712743 - 03/04/13 03:32 PM Edit   Reply   Quote Quick Reply   Quote: The 8300 uses a normal pixel set as the read out buffer so you will be cramming 4 pixels into one to read it out. The KAF-8300 horizontal shift register (HSR) has 50% higher capacity than a normal pixel. The output register (summing well) has %100 higher capacity than a normal pixel. Obviously you do need to watch the signal when binning like with any other CCD. Post Extras:       Tandum sage Reged: 03/01/10 Loc: Brisbane, Australia Re: Starlight Xpress SXVR-H18 [Re: Alph]       #5717907 - 03/07/13 08:31 AM Edit   Reply   Quote Quick Reply   Where did you get this from Alph? The spec for the sensor seem pretty clear that is uses the shielded pixels to shift out the image? [edit] Went looking for that data sheet now it's 2 years on and it's all different. I can't find binning mentioned anywhere. How odd. Edited by Tandum (03/07/13 08:59 AM) Post Extras:       lawrie Carpal Tunnel Reged: 01/31/06 Loc: Okanagan Valley Re: Starlight Xpress SXVR-H18 [Re: Tandum]       #5718025 - 03/07/13 10:02 AM Edit   Reply   Quote Quick Reply   This may be a dumb question, but what are you watching for when you bin the chip? Post Extras:       Tandum sage Reged: 03/01/10 Loc: Brisbane, Australia Re: Starlight Xpress SXVR-H18 [Re: lawrie]       #5718037 - 03/07/13 10:09 AM Edit   Reply   Quote Quick Reply   The well depth on the chip is pretty small, 25K odd. So bright stars in a binned image can combine and overload the output registers and the signal leaks out to surrounding pixels making the stars bigger than they are or washing them out to white. I found on my 8300 camera I needed to expose RGB for 1/3 of the L exposure. So 10 minutes for L and 3 minutes for RGB not 5 minutes. But I'm sure one size doesn't fit all Post Extras:       lawrie Carpal Tunnel Reged: 01/31/06 Loc: Okanagan Valley Re: Starlight Xpress SXVR-H18 [Re: Tandum]       #5718073 - 03/07/13 10:33 AM Edit   Reply   Quote Quick Reply   Thanks, thats good to know. I just pulled the trigger on a QSI683wsg/31mm Astrodon E series filters. Post Extras:       Tandum sage Reged: 03/01/10 Loc: Brisbane, Australia Re: Starlight Xpress SXVR-H18 [Re: lawrie]       #5718095 - 03/07/13 10:40 AM Edit   Reply   Quote Quick Reply   Nice camera, a lot of people run them down here. I believe the cooling is a lot better than the 5 series. Post Extras:       Pages: 1 | 2 | (show all)

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